Frozen Fandom Month Collection
by The Stone Troubadour
Summary: Little fics that came about from Frozen Fandom Month on Tumblr. They will vary in characters, ratings, and content. Not continuous, and do not not correlate into a multi-chap story. [Rated: T for latest update]
1. Knocking On Doors

Anna had already been sent up to bed, warm goodnight's and hugs exchanged between the five-year-old and her parents. Elsa didn't hug her, Elsa barely even said goodnight to her.

Anna really didn't understand what she'd done wrong, why Elsa didn't want to play with her anymore.

After seeing that the young princess was properly changed from her dress to more comfortable nightclothes, the maid had tucked her into soft blankets and pillows, staving off requests for _just one more_ story before blowing out the lights.

Anna was curled up on the soft mattress of her bed, blankets pulled tight by little hands and cheek mushed up against her pillow.

It was just her and the dark now.

It had never been a scary thing before - but, then, Elsa had always been in the other part of the room. She'd been there, if Anna ever needed someone in the night...

Now, there was a door, and a lengthy hallway, and another door that separated them.

In the mind of a child, it wasn't fair.

No matter how many times she knocked on Elsa's door, all she'd get was a muffled "Go away, Anna!"

Anna jolted when a knock sounded at her door, her hopes skyrocketing at the chance that it was Elsa - Elsa at her door, Elsa wanting to be best buddies again, Elsa being her big sister...

"...Anna, sweetheart...Are you still awake?" came the soft, nearly hesitant voice of her father.

The little girl fell back into her pillow, disappointed. She curled back up into warm bed sheets, little button nose crinkling as she sniffed.

There was silence, the thin sliver of light from the hallway blotting out for a moment as her father pressed forward from the doorway and into Anna's room. A weight at the foot of her bed, a calming hand that always somehow managed to find her foot underneath thick blankets.

"Gerda tells me that you've been knocking on your sister's door for weeks now..."

"...Is Elsa mad at me?" Anna asked, her little voice wavering. It was impossible to hide how she was feeling around her father.

"Of course not, Anna, Elsa's just - going through a difficult time. You might not understand now, but being older comes with it's own set of problems...And your sister has more to deal with than most people. Just give her time. Things will get better, you'll see."

Anna rolled over, blue eyes locking on the darkened but still visible outline of her father. "'M not gonna stop knockin'."

Even through the darkness, Anna could see his smile.

"Good, that's...good. We would never ask you to stop, Anna. It may not seem like it, but Elsa needs to hear you outside her door. It helps, more than you could know, sweetheart."


	2. A Place for Growing Things

As several years passed from the incident in the ballroom, Idun had seen both her daughters grow - but not the way she would have ever hoped for. You couldn't have found two children that were closer to one another, but now, walls and doors seemed to separate them.

It wasn't good for either of them, she knew that. But they had almost lost Anna to an accident, and that had instilled such fear into the Queen's heart that she would forsake their healthy relationship for a time to see if Elsa could learn to control her magic.

They had every faith in their eldest daughter, surely their lives would be righted in time.

But the days dragged on, the months crawled by. Fear took up all the empty space in Elsa's room, ice clinging to the walls.

Being alone in that room all day wasn't helping Elsa in the least. And, today, Idun was going to try and fix that.

* * *

"Mother, where are we going?" Elsa asked, voice tinged with anxiety simply by stepping outside of her room.

"Not far, dear heart. Just to the gardens," Idun replied, hands held primly in front of herself as she walked. She would have held her daughter's gloved hand, but the girl was keen to refuse such previously commonplace touches now.

Elsa kept her eyes low, barely leaving the path a few steps ahead of her own two feet. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line, teeth biting into the soft flesh of her mouth.

 _The gardens...? Why? Wouldn't her ice just kill all the plants?_

"You know, when I first came to Arendelle with my King Father, I didn't want to be here. I didn't think I was ready for such a courtship, no matter that it was my duty to my Sire and my country," the Queen spoke, leading the young girl through hallways of trees and low bushes. "I thought it would be an ill match between your father and I," she laughed softly, remembering her many _contained_ arguments with her father over the matter.

"...You mean, you didn't like Papa at first?" Elsa ventured, bringing her gaze up from the ground for the first time all day.

"Oh, heavens, no! He was... _brash_. I'm sure most girls would have said dashing, but all I saw was a cocky young man who seemed to stride about with more purpose than one man ought to," she replied, a small smile forming on her angular face. "But, I didn't _not_ like him, either. Love is a strange thing - and can often be mistaken for loathing if one is so inexperienced with it."

"I was to stay in Arendelle for a month - a whole month! - to court, and to negotiate further alliances for both our realms. To say it was a _long_ month would be an understatement, my dear! He would speak to me of his great hunts; how his hunting party and hounds would run down stags, bears, and all manner of impressive beasts."

"He told me of his prowess with the sword, how he was unmatched in the finer arts of the blade in all of Arendelle."

Elsa pulled a face at that. "Really, Papa?" she asked incredulously. She'd never even seen her father hold a sword.

"Your father was quite different, in his youth," Idun stated, turning a sharp corner, almost so well hidden that Elsa walked a few steps past it before realizing that her mother had gone another way. "Most people forget that this place is here...Since your father claimed his right as King so many years ago, and we downsized the staff at the castle, this old part of the gardens barely goes treated anymore," she explained, raising a hand to delicately run over moss-covered wood before easing open the creaky door.

"A week before our courtship was to be officially announced, and I was to briefly return with my father to our homelands, your father brought me here. I think he finally saw that boasting about his hunts and skills weren't really getting him anywhere with me. So, he took a different approach that last week."

Elsa edged into the dark, single room structure, a hesitant hand reaching out to her mother's skirts; a wispy guide in the darkness. It was dank in the stone room, dusty windows shuttered against most light but the soft, muddled beams that teased through wooden panels and thick cobwebs.

It was surprisingly overgrown, creepers crawling along the simple stonework walls and moss-damp floors.

Idun let out a wistful sigh, walking over to pry one of the shutters open, so the room would see light once more. "I never knew your father had a passion for botany, for things that grew. There were so many plants and flowers in here at one time, brought in from other lands and cared for by him. He told me of each flower, each plant, each and every bulb; how these preferred more sun, and those flourished in the water rather than in the ground. It was a strange and beautiful sight, especially coming from a man I deemed to be interested solely in strength of arm and sword, not of beauty and growing things."

Elsa remained silent, icy eyes wandering over what lay beneath the mess of creeping vines and small leaves.

Dirty pots. A table, overgrown and all but smothered in thriving plant life. Dark, withered forms rested beneath the green; a testament to the other plants that had once resided here, but could not live through the treatment of abandonment. Rusted, unused tools in a corner. Yellowish, cracked parchment crackled underfoot, a long forgotten wind having scattered the now faded notes.

"He didn't just speak of the growing things in this room, though. No, your father spoke animatedly of his plans for Arendelle, the kingdom he would inherit from his own father, just as you will from him. Arendelle is neither big nor small, in the grand scale of things, it is somewhere in the middle. Oh, but your father wanted to change that so dearly - not through war, or conquering other nations, but in a peaceable manner. For one who prided himself on his skills with a blade, your father was such a strategist and negotiator that he could accomplished what he wished with sensible words instead of the tip of a sword."

"His mind was always on growing things, and he wished for Arendelle to grow. And it has, since then. The kingdom has grown, and the people in this kingdom have grown. His family has grown, and it will continue to do so. Do you understand, Elsa?"

Elsa looked up to her mother, processing everything that had been said here.

"Even in the confines of a room, even hidden away from the light, life _grows_. Against all odds, life will grow and thrive, and strive to be beautiful."


	3. Of King's Laws

"If you could make a law, any law, right now, what would it be?"

Really, Kristoff didn't know what he was trying to accomplish by coming down here. He figured, it must have been some sort of sick curiosity that drove him here. Hans was a mystery to him - an _infuriating_ mystery, but an enigma nonetheless. As much as he already didn't care for the man just from Anna's words alone, Kristoff had to know what Hans was like - if what was said was totally, and completely accurate.

But, really, this wasn't his brightest idea.

The question - while completely out of nowhere and quite odd to Kristoff - was left hanging in the air, the two staring each other down. Kristoff would have likened it to wolves challenging one another, aside from the fact that - _currently_ \- there was no real malice between them.

"...What?"

Apparently, that was the answer he'd expected - since it drew a dry laugh from the imprisoned man's lips.

"Come now, you must have _some_ idea? No? Well, one can't say that's very surprising. There's a reason for that."

That earned some growling. The wolves weren't just circling anymore.

"And what the hell does _that_ mean?" Kristoff hissed, stepping closer to the bars that separated them.

"It means you're a commoner. It means that you have no reason to be as such associated with any royal entity as you now are."

Wait...How could he know? They only briefly saw each other out on the fjord, Hans couldn't possibly know Kristoff's relation to Anna!

"...I did what I was hired to do. I got Anna up the mountain, and I got her back," Kristoff refuted, brown eyes narrowed.

"Ah, yes, _Anna_. Anyone else of your...station...would have called her _Princess_ Anna. But not you. It may have been a few days, a culmination of hours, but a lowborn brute such as yourself managed to win the attention of the Arendelle royals. Please, don't look so dumbfounded; I may be stuck in this little hellhole, but I can still hear things," Hans scoffed, not looking the least bit uncomfortable in his cell.

Kristoff glowered at that, lip curling up in a vague snarl. "I didn't ask for any of what they gave me - and I wouldn't have even taken it, but..." _But Anna insisted, wouldn't take no for an answer._

"And, in such a backwards little country as this - where witches rule, and sane men are thrown out of the kingdom for trying to save the people from such treachery - is it really so far-fetched to think an ice harvesting oaf could weasel his way into the royal family?"

The wolves were snarling, snapping at each other with bared teeth.

"Well, looks like I'm doin' a better job of it than you, if I was. You're locked up for what you did to Anna, and the Queen - and you're trying to pass yourself off as benevolent? What a joke...," Kristoff growled, hands gripping the metal bars of the cell.

Hans chuckled at that, a gloved hand pressed lightly to his face. "Benevolence and malevolence have a very thin line separating them. Yes, I gained the trust of the people - I was kind, merciful, humble. But I cared nothing for them beyond what they could get me; much like a farmer with stock cattle. Benevolent actions, malevolent intentions. If I had actually _cared_ for Anna, or anyone but myself in this whole mess, I would never have gotten what I desired."

Kristoff scoffed, pushing himself away from the cell bars. "To be king, is that it?"

"Precisely," Hans hummed, green eyes seeming to shine in the semi-dark like a cat's.

Kristoff shook his head, figuring this all to have been a waste of his time. He should have simply trusted Anna's word on Hans' character, there was nothing else to be gleaned from him.

"Caution, harvester. Following the steps of a woman and letting her whisper sweet nothings into your ear...It wouldn't be the first time the crown of a king was placed onto a commoner's head. But can such a man, so low in life and yet suddenly raised up, shoulder the weight of a kingdom, its people, and its laws?"

Kristoff paused at this, his back turned to the Southern Isles prince, but he didn't react further.

Neither wolf prevails over the other, but while one moves to lick its wounds and ready for the next struggle for dominance, the other leaves with a tucked tail and uncertain future.


	4. I Hate You In a Love You Way

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

"Oh, yeah, I really fuckin' do."

"Tsk tsk, such language, Kristopher."

"Only my Ma – _and cops with warrants_ – get to call me that…"

Hans snorts at that, his mouth close to the blond's ear. "Aw, but no special treatment for me? I thought we were starting to get along quite well."

Kristoff shifted uncomfortably, feeling a confining wall on almost all sides. "Yeah, well, happy feelings are gone now. End of story…"

 _He was terrified of small spaces, and Hans knew that._

"I don't think so, not while I'm the one writing out this little story of ours. Or, had you forgotten, _I'm_ the one who got you here in the first place."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to complain 'bout that. You blindfolded me, and said we were gonna have some fun."

"You mean, you're not having fun?" Hans asked in mock concern, his smirk evident in his tone alone.

"No, you misleading son of a–" Kristoff squirmed, unable to keep his breathing controlled. It was pitch black for him, the blindfold still in place, and robbing him of his vision. He didn't know where they were, aside from the very obvious fact that it was _small as fuck_.

Hans' smirk only widened at the larger male's increased struggling; quick, sharp breaths, almost spastic movements that only resulted in an arm or leg hitting one of the claustrophobically close walls, and a panicked cold sweat that had broken out on the blond's flesh. He couldn't get enough of it, holding the power to make Kristoff so unbelievably uncomfortable that he'd work himself into such a frantic state he'd nearly make himself pass out.

All because he was simply too big for the small space they currently occupied. It was so simple, it almost made the redhead laugh out loud – but that might earn him a kick in the shin from his partner.

Ah, well, one must learn to indulge in the simple pleasures, no?


	5. Imaginary Friends

Hans wasn't in the habit of staring. He'd been taught that such an action was rude - or to be used to unnerve others in a political negotiation, it was incredible how many people looked away from a good, solid stare.

But this...was not something he'd ever dealt with before.

"Boy, you sure are good at this game! You've barely blinked at all this _whole_ time!"

Green eyes continued to stare, darting from lumpy snow features and stick arms, to coal buttons and crooked carrot nose. It was made up of inanimate objects, yet here it was, walking and talking like the most obnoxiously curious child Hans had ever seen.

He was trying to figure out... _how_? Beyond the magic, beyond the sorcery, there had to be an explanation for this. This creature wasn't like the one that guarded the Queen's ice palace; the beast on the mountain seemed to follow her orders, this lump of ill-formed snow didn't seem to follow anyone's command - while not something Hans would call entirely intelligent, it made decisions for itself.

"You look kinda lonely...Oh, oh! Do you need a friend? We could be friends!" the snowman exclaimed, ignorant of the foreign prince's soon departure for the Southern Isles.

"Friends? _Children_ make friends. I have no need of them," Hans sniped, glowering at the optimistic creature.

"Didn't you have childhood friends?" Olaf inquired curiously, "I did! Well, I was more Anna and Elsa's childhood friend, since they built me as kids!"

"How nice for you."

"I like to think so."

There was a blessedly rare bout of silence since the snow being had waddled up to him and started talking, and Hans was appreciative of it.

"Sooo... _Did_ you have friends as a child?" Olaf asked again, lumpy little feet kicking back and forth, his flurry whirling about quietly.

Hans glared at the snowman for breaking the silence, sharply turning his head away. "...Mine were all imaginary, so _no_."

This brought a grin - well, a _wider_ grin - to Olaf's white, faintly sparkling face. " _I_ could be your new imaginary friend! Everyone should have a friend, don't you think?"


	6. The Confidant

Elsa wasn't used to talking to people, expressing herself - even with Anna and her starting to reconnect, such sharing was _not_ commonplace for the young Queen yet. Several months of freedom didn't erase years of isolation, no matter what her younger sister tried.

Anna meant well, but she was a little too much to take sometimes. Elsa loved talking with her, spending time with her, but pouring out deep, dark secrets? Elsa simply wasn't there yet.

Kristoff was still...Well, suffice it to say they were still figuring one another out. Olaf was, quite frankly, not to be trusted with any secrets; he never truly meant to, but he'd give things away within an hour of being told.

So, Elsa consigned herself to keeping certain things to herself, until she found herself in the stables. She had meant to speak to the stable master about hiring some ore help - the man was getting quite on in years, and while Kristoff helped when he could, they really needed more stable hands - but couldn't find the man. She was about to leave when a furry head poked out from one of the stalls; not a horse, but a reindeer.

"Ah...You're Kristoff's reindeer, aren't you?" Elsa wondered aloud, blinking at the large animal.

The reindeer gave a vague nod, nostrils widening as he sniffed at her, his neck stretched out as far as he could manage.

"...Sven, correct?"

A snort of confirmation, big, brown eyes watching her curiously.

Really, she knew it shoudn't have seemed _that_ strange to her after everything, but she was still _talking to a reindeer_.

"...Anna tells me that Kristoff...speaks to you quite often. That must be...nice."

Sven cocked his head to the side, ears pointed in her direction.

"No, no, I wouldn't want to impose on you...Well, I suppose...if you're here, you might, perhaps, not be too busy...?"

A short shake of his head, and another snort.

"Ah, good. I...find myself lacking in a decent confidant, and I could...could use someone to talk to," Elsa admitted, stepping closer to that animal's stall.

The reindeer inclined his head at that, more than happy to lend an ear.

Every week after that, Elsa wandered down to the stables when she knew Sven was there and Kristoff was off elsewhere with Anna. She talked of serious, political issues or things that bothered her - sometimes she brought up memories of her childhood, silly things, things that would otherwise be embarrassing. Sven sat there and listened, munching on carrots, hay, and any treats that Elsa had brought him.

Sven never spoke back, but that was perfectly alright. He listened, he didn't judge, and despite his...odor sometimes, the reindeer was comfortable to be around.

Elsa had found someone she could talk to uninhibited, and in the months that followed, her talks with Sven helped her share more with the others around her.


	7. Feeling What was Never There

As a child, there were many things that Kristoff didn't understand.

Why did snow fall? What made the lights in the sky at night? How did winter turn into spring?

He wasn't the most curious child by far, but it was there all the same. It showed in things that vastly grabbed his attention; animals, nature, things of that nature. Kristoff was often left alone while his mother slept or worked, so he would sneak off a ways from their village, even though he was met with an angry smack to the head when he got back. He liked to explore, liked to climb the trees and rocks, to watch the deer and the other little animals.

Kristoff brought several back home with him, just little things that wouldn't get him into too much trouble - like that one time he brought home a bear cub. But, he could never keep the creatures, little friends to him, for very long. His mother would find them eventually, or the older man that they lived with, and Kristoff would be forced to say goodbye to his furry friends.

His curiosity was subdued most days, it seemed to get him into more trouble than it was worth.

What made the other children in the village throw rocks at him? How come the adults gave him dirty looks, and called him names? Why did his Mama hit him some nights?

Kristoff didn't think he was so different. He wanted to play like the other children, wanted to have fun and make friends like any of them. Sure, he only had a Mama, but what was so great about having a Papa anyway? Kristoff's never wanted him, so why should he want a Papa?

Besides, his Mama was good, even if she yelled and hit him sometimes. She kept him warm when she was there to stoke the fire, or mend clothes. She didn't cook well, but it kept him from being hungry most nights. She told him to fight back when the other village kids were being mean, told him to throw rocks back at them.

But she didn't hug him, didn't kiss him like a mother does to a child - at least, not like what he'd seen other mothers do with their children. They always seemed so...warm and comforting, like they always had a kind or caring word for their son or daughter. His mother was rarely so affectionate or close, the closest she came to embracing him was when he was younger, and needed to be carried; even then, she didn't carry him for long, merely strapping him to one of the reindeer so that he wouldn't fall off.

She was cold, and distant, and would often tell him why this was. As a child, most of it didn't make complete sense to him, but one thing was crystal clear to him even at a young age. His mother didn't love him like other kids' mothers did them, he was a responsibility and nothing more. It didn't bother him as much as he thought hearing her say it would, but he'd grown up with the very feeling of her hatred for him.

How could he grieve over something he never had to begin with?

But then, one night seemed to change that, however brief it lasted.

Kristoff had woken up to the sounds of screaming, and the smell of smoke and fire. Confused and scared, he had scampered over to the small window that overlooked the front of the house, and peered out into the night. The dark sky was tinged a putrid orange and gray, the shadowy figures of men in metals and furs ripping their way through the small mountain village.

His mother had pulled him away from the window, hushing him and telling him to stay quiet. Kristoff did as he was told, fear keeping him as silent as a mouse. She had quickly gathered a satchel and several other supplies, thrusting the bag over his shoulder and tying it tight so that he wouldn't lose it. Then, she picked him up, hiding him as best she could as she dashed out of their little home and out to where their one surviving reindeer rested in a lean-in against the cabin.

It was chaotic, darkness and smoke and heat clamoring from all around; pained screams and horrible shrieks, both man and animal, filling the air.

But his mother got him on the reindeer - which was pregnant, and almost painfully lethargic at this point - hastily uttered that she would find him, and then smacked the reindeer cow until she got up and ran. Kristoff dug his pudgy little fingers into coarse fur, holding on as he looked back. He didn't stop looking back, even when the burning village faded and all he could hear was the labored breathing of the animal beneath him.

 _How could he grieve over something he thought was never there before?_


	8. Anger Management

Anna loved going to the market place in town. As a child, the market was an unending source of adventure and excitement. In addition to this, the young Princess had a friend that worked in the bustling market of Arendelle. Kristoff was a young ice harvester, only a few years older than Anna herself, that the youngest Arendelle royal had befriended on complete happenstance.

Running off from her handler, Anna had scampered around the different vendors and temporary stalls, one thing and then another grabbing her attention. After exploring for a while, the five-year-old had started to get a bit bored staring at one of the vendor's jewelry - she liked them well enough, they were pretty and caught her eye, but her attention span was just too small at that age to stay on one thing for very long.

That was when she met Kristoff. As she skipped out of the jeweler's shop, Anna had spotted a boy with a little sled of ice and a reindeer calf. Having been to the market numerous times in her young life, Anna had seen grown up harvesters before, but never one so close to her age - and with a reindeer, too! Anna had never seen a reindeer before, not outside of the illustrations in her storybooks, at least.

Obviously, Anna had to make friends!

She had gone over, promptly tripped, and knocked into the boy. After a brief argument - _You pushed me! Did not! Did too!_ \- the two became unlikely friends. A Princess and an ice harvester, an optimist and a pessimist.

It was this optimistic outlook Anna had that came into play on this specific day in the market.

Gerda, Anna's chaperon for the day, had long since become accustomed to making a stop by the young boy's spot in the market place; she would speak with the spice vendor across the way, keeping an eye on the young Princess while doing some shopping for the castle's kitchen. The older servant didn't dislike or distrust the harvester boy, but her duty was to Anna's safety while away from her parents, so she never strayed far from her young charge's side.

"Hello, Kristoffer!" Anna greeted jubilantly, hopping over to her friend's side, Gerda watching from her station just several feet away.

Kristoff scowled down at the cobblestone street, grumbling something out under his breath.

Anna frowned at this, repeating her greeting, "I _said_ , hello."

"Yeah, I heard you," Kristoff huffed, scuffing his boot against the ground.

The redheaded girl crossed her arms, and stomped a little foot. "Well, that wasn't very nice!" she snorted, not even caring that it was "unladylike".

Kristoff rubbed his nose against his sleeve, snuffling. "...Don't care."

This was _not_ the sort of response Anna was looking for. "Why are you so grumpy today?" she asked, staring up at the taller boy. He was acting like her sister, not telling her what was upsetting him, and Anna wasn't going to be ignored.

The blond boy scuffed his boot against the cobblestone again, his mouth pursed to one side as he thought about answering her or not. "...Some stupid kids came over here earlier, a couple years older than me, I think...They kicked over my sled, and ruined my ice, so I can't sell it," he finally replied.

Anna's expression was quick to change at that. "What?! Why would they do that?!" the little girl demanded, taking note of his unusual lack of ice to sell that day.

Kristoff only shrugged, folding his arms over his chest crossly.

"...Well, do you have any ice left?" she asked, stepping closer to him.

"Yeah, but it's not good anymore. It's all...chipped and broken up."

Anna latched onto Kristoff's side in a hug, grinning up at him. "I'll buy it, I'll buy it! But you gotta promise not to be grumpy anymore today, so we can play, okay?"


	9. Dark Day in Arendelle

Before the coronation, there was a palpable tension in the city. The people of Arendelle had loved the late King and Queen, and had mourned their untimely deaths with as much genuineness as they could without knowing them beyond monarchs.

They knew nothing of the young Princess set to be their new Queen. They had known her as a child, celebrated her birth - but then, the castle gates were shut, and the eldest royal daughter of Arendelle never stepped foot outside of the castle again.

They had trusted the late King and Queen, but could they trust Elsa? The people had known a girl, but the woman they were soon to be confronted with did not appear to be the same person...

Coronation day was not so joyful as it had been when King Agdar had taken the throne.


	10. Together We Ride

Elsa had run.

Anna had grabbed her glove, confronted her, yelled - and her sister had loosed a spiked barrier of ice, seizing everyone's shocked hesitation to flee from the ballroom and the city all together.

So, Anna was doing the _adult_ thing, and getting ready to go after her sister. She'd called for Kai to ready her horse - after dealing with the beady-eyed Duke of Weselton, and his screechy complaints about falling on Elsa's...ice - and was about ready to mount her steed when Hans grabbed her arm, a concerned look on his face.

"Anna, I'm coming with you. As your fiance, I can't let you go after Queen Elsa all by yourself," he stated, his own fjord horse saddled and ready to go. "We can gather a group of guards, and then-"

"Guards?! Hans...Elsa's my sister, she'd never hurt me. She's not _dangerous_ , just _scared_ ," Anna replied, defending her sister's actions - even if she didn't quite understand them. Elsa was her sister, she couldn't _really_ be a...a witch or whatever people were thinking she was!

Hans sighed, not releasing his grip on her arm. "Alright...No guards, but I'm still coming with you, Anna."

"But, if _I'm_ gone, and _you're_ gone - who's going to watch over Arendelle?"

"We can set up an emergency council; the remaining nobles can take care of things here for a day or two, don't you think?"

Anna nodded, turning to Kai for a moment. "Could you - wait here? With the horses?"

"Of course, your Royal Highness," Kai said in an unwavering tone, inclining his head before taking hold of both animals' reins.

"You gather the other nobles together, I'm going to get us some warmer clothes and supplies," Anna continued, giving her fiance a confident smile before slipping out of his hold, and hurrying off to get help from some of the castle staff to collect what they would need up in the mountains.

It wasn't too long later, with Arendelle in the hands of carefully selected noblemen and packs set up on the backs of their horses, that Princess Anna and Prince Hans raced off toward the looming mountains of Arendelle. Plowing through the growing blanket of snow, the pushed onward, following the unnatural chill that seemed to flow from the North Mountain.


	11. End All

Anna had told Olaf and Kristoff to wait outside, so they had waited...for a minute. Olaf was much quicker to burst in on the two sisters than Kristoff was, and the ice harvester had lingered outside while he could still hear the energetic snowman's voice. By the time he'd finally edged into the great ice palace, Kristoff could see Anna chasing up a massive staircase of ice, Olaf trying to keep up with them, but ultimately failing do to a lack of friction on the icy steps.

Kristoff had a...bad feeling about this. That was the _only_ reason he went up after Anna - it really wasn't his place or his business, but his gut was telling him something wasn't right. After all, he was the only one up here with Anna, he figured he had a duty to keep her safe, right? She was the Princess, after all...

As soon as he got up that winding staircase, it was like a blizzard up here - he could barely see through it, but Kristoff caught Anna's bright cape through the ferocious flurry.

"Anna!" His shout was muffled, but Kristoff figured that may have been a good thing, considering what happened next.

Kristoff had managed to get in front of the redhead, just as Queen Elsa unleashed a frigid blast of energy. It didn't hurt, at first. It was like getting punched in the chest by a fist of ice - cold, and momentarily numbing. Once the miniature blizzard started to die down, that's when he felt the pain - a cold-hot sear in his chest.

He kept his feet, though, and once all the snow was gone, no one was none the wiser. "Anna...Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah...I'm _fine_ ," Anna replied, sounding shaken at first and then steadying her voice, her gaze fixing on her sister. "Elsa, please, come back with us! We can fix this, I promise-"

"No, Anna...There's no fixing this - there's no fixing me. I'm not leaving here...but you are," the Queen stated, making a frantic gesture with her hands - a swirl of dark snow forming into a monstrous creature.

Anna and Kristoff - and Olaf, who had finally made it up the stairs - had to crane their necks back just to look at the hulking monster's pale face. Kristoff had his hands anchored on Anna's shoulders, starting to pull her away. "Okay... _Now_ we're leaving!"

What followed was a mad dash out of the ice palace, a slow - but _very_ angry - snow monster chasing after them. They had managed to make it down the staircase with no problem - something that big couldn't go full throttle on such a delicate structure - but the ice golem caught up with long strides as they tried to force open the large ice doors.

" _Go away!_ " the great creature rumbled, kicking open the door and tossing out the two people he had caught - along with the smaller snowman at his feet. After seeing that they had successfully tumbled down the stairs, he turned back and slammed the doors shut.

Groaning, Anna and Kristoff regained their footing, rubbing at now sore areas. Olaf worked to put himself back together, Sven trotting over happily.

"Well...That coulda gone better," Kristoff grumbled, stooping down to pick up his hat and plopping it back onto his head, stubbornly ignoring the feel of snow clinging to the inside of the cap.

"Yeah, that...went poorly," Anna sighed, absently dusting snow off herself. Suddenly, the realization of _just_ how bad it had gone dawned on her, and the redheaded Princess slapped gloved hands to her cheeks. "She threw me out! What am I going to do _now_? How can I go back to Arendelle with everything still frozen over like this?!" she panicked, pacing awkwardly in the snow.

Kristoff rubbed at his neck, watching her for a moment before hesitantly stopping Anna in her tracks. "I don't know...But right now, we should find a place to rest for the night. We can think of what to do next after that," he said, trying to ignore the deep chill that seemed to crawl up his spine. He knew what had happened, knew that the cold he was feeling wasn't natural - and Kristoff also knew that the trolls could help; at the very least, they'd have shelter from all this snow in the valley.

"Come on, I know somewhere we can go..."

* * *

Kristoff hadn't intended to ever bring anyone back to the Valley of Living Rock, but these were...out of the ordinary circumstances.

"So, your family lives here?"

Kristoff let out a breath, barely even feeling the heat of the valley as they continued to wind through the thermal hot spots. Anna had been asking questions nonstop, and he had been answering to the best of his ability without saying too much.

"Yeah, they do."

"But they've _never_ been down to Arendelle?" Anna asked incredulously.

"Uh...No, not that I know of," Kristoff replied, trying to keep himself moving at a steady pace to combat the cold that was slowly crawling through him. Damn, this magic sure worked fast...

Before Anna could blurt out another question, though, they had reached the little outcropping of rock that the trolls resided in. Of course, to Anna and Olaf's gaze, the outcropping was filled with nothing but moss, rocks, and more moss and rocks. To Kristoff, though, this was his family - albeit, they were currently dormant in resting.

"So...Remember how I told you my family is...different?"

"Yeah, but they sounded like they were _fine_ , Kristoff."

The harvester pulled a bit of a face. "Well, don't say I didn't try to warn you," he sighed, stepping in among the moss-covered boulders. "Meet my family!" he announced, gesturing to the still rocks.

Anna's expression had gone from excitedly curious, to downright confused and almost horrified in a matter of seconds. Olaf was stage-whispering something to her, and Kristoff almost had to run after Anna as she started to turn away to make a hasty retreat.

"Wait, Anna, hold on just a-"

And that's when everybody decided to wake up, and start rolling around.

Anna let out a surprised squawk as she was forced to dodge, hop, and dance around several rolling rocks to avoid getting hit by them. "Kristoff, what - they're...they're trolls...," she murmured out, still sounding confused, but with a touch of amazement. "They're _trolls_!"

Her exuberance, of course, caught Kristoff's entire family's attention, and they all swarmed around the Princess curiously. As everyone's focus was on Anna - and Olaf, to be quite honest; even the trolls hadn't seen a living snowman before - Kristoff sneaked off in search of Grand Pabbie. If there was any chance of talking to the elder troll about what happened without the others finding out or going into a panic, this was going to have to be it.

Anna, while vastly distracted and entertained by the trolls, looked up for Kristoff after a few minutes - only to see him wandering off to one of the caves that opened up near the rocky clearing. Leaving Sven and Olaf to entertain the rock beings with an over-exaggerated retelling of their journey so far, Anna trailed after the ice harvester.

"...I'm sorry, Kristoff, I cannot..."

Anna's eyebrows bunched together as she heard a low, gravelly voice speaking, the Princess ducking just outside the mouth of a faintly phosphorescent cave.

"So, it's...what, just gonna keep spreading?"

"My magic only spreads to this valley, as you know. The most I can do is slow it down while you remain here, but I cannot, ultimately, remove the ice that Queen Elsa shot into your heart..."

Anna blinked at that, leaning in closer. _Wait...Elsa did what? When did this happen- wait...it must have been that storm she had created. I couldn't really see, but...but he must have jumped in front of me?_

"...Right...Okay. So...is there nothing I can do to get rid of it - _at all_?"

"Kristoff, only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart..."

Anna heard a sigh, and had to scramble back to the group when she heard Kristoff's footsteps coming back from the cave. She didn't want to get caught eavesdropping - that was just _rude_ \- but it was a good thing she _had_ heard! She knew all about true love! She could help him - and after all he had done for her, Anna was determined to repay the harvester.

After everyone was introduced - which took a surprisingly short amount of time, considering the sheer number of trolls - Kristoff was quick to remind them that they needed _sleep_. Of course, Olaf was already off and playing with the younger trolls, but the group didn't really think he needed sleep anyway. It was comfortable enough in the valley to just sleep out in the open; the air was warm, and the thick moss covering the ground was soft and didn't give way to the rock underneath.

Anna was facing Kritoff's back, on the edge of sleep, yet her mind wouldn't let her drift off. "Hey...Hey, Kristoff, psst! Are you awake?" she whispered, scooting a bit closer to him, so as not to wake up a snoring Sven.

"...No, I'm asleep."

Anna blew a frustrated puff of air at her bangs. "You just spoke, so I _know_ you're awake!"

Kristoff let out a groan, his shoulders slumping, but he didn't roll over to face the Princess. "What is it?"

"You know, I'll bet - once we get this all sorted out, and Arendelle isn't, you know, buried under a bunch of snow anymore - that we could find you true love, too! Just like Hans and me!" she pressed, hoping it didn't sound too obvious that she'd snooped on him earlier.

Anna could see his whole body tense at her words, his head shifting a bit, like he almost looked over his shoulder at her. "...That's not gonna happen..."

"What? Why not? Everyone can find true love!" Anna refuted, sitting up a bit.

Kristoff hunched his shoulders, and shifted away from her. "Not everyone, so just...go back to sleep, Anna."

She was sorely tempted to argue her point - because she _totally_ had a point - but she was suddenly overtaken by a wave of exhaustion, not even noticing the troll standing a few feet away from her, a glowing crystal in its stony hand.

As soon as Anna was fast asleep, Bulda let the crystal's glow fade. She made her way over to Kristoff, moving with the silent steps of a mother checking up on her child. Heavy, gray-toned fingers brushed through his blond hair, lingering over the stark white that was starting to creep in.

The trolls didn't mourn like humans did. When one of their own passed on - which, naturally, took a very long time to happen - they were simply returned to the earth. It was a celebration of life, and, in a way, rebirth; for something that takes in life, must eventually give back in death. But Kristoff was different, always had been, always would be.

 _Oh, baby boy...If you'd just fight for your love. You can't just turn your back because she thinks she's in love with someone else..._

If things continued as they were now, it would be the first time in their history that the trolls grieved for the loss of one of their own.

* * *

"Come on, I'm bringing you back down to the city, before every pass in the mountain in choked off by snow," Kristoff said, getting Sven ready for the ride back. Without the sled, they'd all have to pile onto the reindeer's back. He wasn't enthusiastic to put that sort of strain on his friend, but they didn't have a choice.

"That - That can happen?" Anna asked, letting out a surprised yip when Kristoff picked her up and sat her on Sven's back. Really, she could have gotten up by herself...Although, Sven's harness wasn't like her horse's saddle; there weren't any stirrups.

"Yup, it can, so we should get a move on," he replied, hauling himself up as well - and practically having to catch Olaf as the little snowman threw himself up at the reindeer's back.

They rode in silence, quite a difference from last time. It was bumpy, and not the best ride either of them - aside from maybe Olaf - had ever taken. They had to dig through some places, but they made it back to Arendelle before nightfall.

"Okay, all we have to do is find Hans, and we can figure out how to convince Elsa to come ba-"

"You can find Hans, I have to go back," Kristoff interrupted, helping Olaf down as Anna gave him a confused look.

"Wait...going back?"

Kristoff wasn't even looking her in the eye, ignoring the almost hurt tone in her voice. "Yeah, I took you up the North Mountain, I brought you back...Now that you're in the city again, you don't need me around anymore."

Anna was about to say that _did_ need him here - and, well, she _wanted_ him here, too! - but was once again cut off by someone else.

"Anna!" came a shout, the voice not quite as familiar as Anna would have liked it to be.

"Hans?"

Just at the mere mention of the name, Kristoff backed off even more, trying to look occupied with Sven's harness.

"Anna, I'm so glad you made it back safely," the foreign prince gushed, dismounting from his horse and going over to Anna. He had his hands on her upper arms, almost caging her in as he feigned looking her over for any injuries. "When the storm got worse, I was so worried for you..."

"Well, I - here I am," Anna breathed out, shrugging a little. "Hans, I tried talking to my sister...But things didn't work out. Obviously, I mean - it's still snowing - but I think we should try again! I know we can convince her to come back to Arendelle, and unfreeze everything!"

Kristoff could see the flash of irritation on Hans' face, but Anna didn't, so he said nothing.

"Of course, but I...would feel better if you stayed in Arendelle, Anna. I let you go once, and that was hard to do, my love. I couldn't bare the thought of you possibly getting hurt all because I was rash enough not to make you stay where it's safe."

"It's - It's fine, Hans, I've done it before! With Kristoff!" Anna smiled, turning to face the ice harvester, and pulling her fiance over with her. "Kristoff, this is my - well, Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, my fiance. Hans, this is Kristoff! He guided me to where Elsa is!" she explained, ignorant to the tension that sparked up between the two males.

"...Well, I thank you for bringing my fiancee back here safely," Hans stated dryly, nostrils flared like he smelled something bad - quite possibly wet reindeer. "But your services are no longer required."

"I've got to be going anyway...," Kristoff said in a low tone, bordering on a growl. "Good luck, Anna."

Hans cleared his throat, a thin eyebrow arching at the casualness being displayed.

Kristoff glowered at the prince, his eyes softening when he looked at Anna. "Good luck, _Princess_ Anna...I hope the next time I come down to Arendelle, there won't be five feet of snow on the ground in summer."

Anna looked torn, and worried, hesitant to see her new friend leaving so soon. "I...I hope so, too, Kristoff. Will you - Will you think about what I said last night? About being able to find true love?" she asked, brow furrowing at the possessive grip on her am tightening.

Kristoff tugged on Sven's harness, a small smile on his face as he turned away. "Every single day, Feistypants."

* * *

In the end, the snows did not abate - not even when the Snow Queen's head was taken from her shoulders.

There was a new King and Queen, but there was no love to be had in a kingdom of eternal ice and snow.

And the Valley of Living Rock echoed with cries for the Reindeer King and his frozen heart.


	12. The Perfect Way to End the Day

Everything had to be perfect, everything and everyone had to be in place. This would be the only chance they had; if things didn't go right, they'd miss it.

Sven couldn't make it up into the mountains anymore, joints too achy and legs too weak to haul himself and everyone else up rocky paths and steep inclines. So, it was his turn to get a ride this time; they'd loaded him up into the back of a large wagon - which had made sure was heavily padded on the bottom, so the old reindeer wouldn't get sore from laying down or jostled around too much.

Two hulking draft horses pulled the wagon, everyone on board. Kristoff guided them up, but not without glancing back at his old friend every five minutes. Anna and Elsa were sat on either side of him - Anna with both her arms wrapped around Kristoff's right arm, and Elsa was sitting as close to her brother-in-law as they were both comfortable with. Olaf, of course, was sat in the back with Sven - the reindeer and the snowman were quite close after all, and Olaf was more than happy to entertain Sven during the trip up the mountain.

It took a bit of careful maneuvering to get Sven down from the wagon, once they'd reached the Valley of Living Rock. The trolls, as usual, were happy to greet them - even with the somber air that had traveled with the group.

Life was life, to the trolls, and death was just another stage in the great balancing of the world.

Kristoff just wished it wasn't happening right now. Anna and he had just had their first child - a boy, all bright blue eyes and pale blond hair. His son would never get to know Sven, and the reindeer wouldn't get to really meet Sten either - Sven had gotten to see the baby as soon as was allowed, but it wasn't the same.

Still, if this was to be Sven's last night, Kristoff wanted it to be the best night he could possibly give his friend.

So, they got Sven down to a nice, comfortable patch of moss, just for him. He had all the carrots and sugar cubs he could ever hope to eat, and a thick horse blanket draped over his large frame. The reindeer was surrounded by his family, human, rock troll and animated snowman alike.

Grand Pabbie waved his hands to the air, the trolls humming, sounding like the low rumble of an oncoming avalanche as lights appeared in the sky. It was bright and colorful, full of life and magic. The old troll even manipulated shapes into the lights, familiar scenes and even some that were purely fantastical.

"Sven, look, the sky's awake...Sven?"


	13. Brotherhood

It was a bit odd, none of them were legitimately born, yet there was an undeniable bond of family between them all.

It could have been the magic that formed them, the same snow they were all made of - or maybe it was more the sibling emotions that were attached to every single one of them when they came into being.

Olaf was made of childhood fun and unconditional love, all fun times and uncontrollable curiosity and excitement.

Marshmallow was defensive anger; more difficult to familial love than Olaf, once he _does_ find what makes him happy, the massive snowman calms considerably.

The Snowgies, though, were made of pure mischief and stubbornness.


	14. Love is

Love is _protecting_ those whom you care for - even when it _hurts_ you to do so.

Love is supporting the people in your life; no matter what _they're_ dealing with, or if _you_ fully understand what they're going through.

Love is putting _someone else's_ needs before _your own_.

Love is embracing yourself and your actions, both the _good_ and the _bad_.

Love is _sharing_ what you have with others, even when you have _little_ to give.

Love is leaving when you _think_ it's the right thing to do, and going back when you _know_ it is.

Love is _never giving up_ on others, and standing by them, even when _they hurt you_ by accident.

 ** _Love is_**.


	15. In the Family

It was unorthodox in the highest degree. Really, Hans couldn't even guess at how his life had gone this way. It seemed like only yesterday he was coming over to Arendelle, trying to woo one of the shut-in royals and claim a place in a new kingdom for himself.

Obviously, things had not... _progressed_ the way he had planned, but life sometimes had a funny way of landing you where you want to be - even if you didn't know that's what you wanted in the first place.

After the debacle in Arendelle, Hans had expected to never again set foot on Arendellian soil.

And yet, after his trail in the Southern Isles - his homeland - Hans had not, necessarily, been banished. In fact, something quite strange had happened before his sentence had been handed down. Queen Elsa had sent a letter - apparently on Princess Anna's request - that his punishment be handled back in Arendelle, if that was not an overstep to the authorities in the Southern Isles.

His family had wholly agreed with this, not wanting anything else to do with the failure that was the thirteenth son of the Isles. So, he'd been shipped back over to Arendelle, and accepted into an odd situation with the royal family.

Under strict supervision, by the Queen herself, Hans was appointed as an adviser. At first, it was awkward, and he was spiteful toward them all for getting him into such a humiliating position in the first place. But that didn't last too long; it was counterproductive, even if Hans didn't particularly want to be there, he had to admit it was preferable to being in a cell.

And as soon as his attitude changed towards something more agreeable, the more everyone got comfortable with one another. Well, that, and for whatever reason over the years, Anna's children took to him something fierce.

Hans - or, as he was unwillingly being addressed, Uncle Fuzzy-Face - couldn't fathom why.

But he also wasn't going to question a second chance at the family he had always wanted. As strange as it was, they were better than the one he'd been born into.


	16. Prankster Wannabes

"This is stupid."

"Stupid? Regaining your honor as a _man_ is stupid?!"

Kristoff rolled his eyes, grunting when Hans' heel dug into his back with an uncomfortable sharpness. "Not sure about you, but I didn't lose 'my honor as a man' to begin with..."

He could hear Hans snort above him. "Really? Not at all? Not even when all of your clothes were 'mysteriously' dyed pink?"

Okay, Kristoff would admit, he wasn't exactly _happy_ about that - but it had washed out _eventually._ But he really didn't think it warranted breaking into Anna and Elsa's laundry room. To do what, exactly, Hans had yet to divulge.

"They were asking for war, don't you see?" Hans continued, finally prying the window open and pulling himself through.

Kristoff sent the ginger a deadpanned look, getting up from where he'd been on all fours, being used as a step stool by the slighter male. The window had just been out of both of their reaches, so, naturally, Hans demanded that Kristoff give him a boost up.

"War? Seriously, Hans...It was just a couple of pranks-"

The pink dye being the most recent.

"That were all humiliating!" Hans cut in, trying to keep his voice down. "Now get up here, Bjorgman!"

The blond grumbled to himself for a moment, wondering how he got caught up in all of this, before climbing up to join his cohort - Hans having to lend him a hand to get up to the window.

"You wouldn't be so damn heavy...if you ate less junk!" Hans muttered in a strained whisper, trying to haul the larger male up.

"I don't eat that much junk food, you just don't have any upper body strength!" Kristoff protested, managing to get partway through the window.

"...I've seen you eat two boxes of Twinkies in one sitting."

"That was for a bet, so just shut up and help me-" Kristoff grunted in confusion, interrupting himself. He shifted a bit, only his head and left shoulder through the window. "Ah...shit..."

Hans scowled at him. "Don't you dare tell me that you're stuck, oaf..."

"Fine, I won't," Kristoff huffed, trying to wiggle free - it _was_ a rather small window. "I'm spatially challenged right now."

"Damn it, Bjorgman, you're going to ruin this whole operation!" Hans yelled, sucking in a breath when he realized just how loud he had been. It didn't take long for him to hear questioning voices and quick footsteps heading towards him, the redhead panicking as he now started to push at Kristoff, trying to get him to go the other way. "Are you kidding me...Now you're blocking our way out!" he hissed in frustration.

Kristoff yelped at that, still trying to get himself unstuck. "Hey, I didn't want to do this in the first place, so don't blame me!"

"Boys, boys...," a new voice chimed in, sounding cool and collected, despite finding two intruders.

Both Hans and Kristoff turned their attention to the person standing in the doorway, gulping at the icy look being sent straight in their direction.

"You're both to blame," Elsa finished curtly, a giggling Anna looking over her shoulder.


End file.
